


Home for the Holidays

by VenJubilation



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Post Persona 5 Ending, Ryuji's POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 07:12:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12978810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenJubilation/pseuds/VenJubilation
Summary: Due to their long distance relationship, Ryuji misses Akira. And all he wants for Christmas is to have him by his side. With time cutting short and no luck in the job market, he takes an opportunity to save money for Operation: Bring Frizzy Hair Back Home.





	Home for the Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a little over two years since I've written anything, so I apologize if this fic doesn't flow as smoothly as it should.  
> Thank you and hope you enjoy reading!

Less than two weeks before Christmas -- snow had covered most of Japan and the holiday spirit was more than present. However, most people were finding it hard to get into the mood for a number of reasons. Financial instability, family illness; or in Ryuji’s case, the lacking presence of his now distant boyfriend was putting a dent in his cheer.

A little over a handful of months have passed since Akira had returned back home; his probation over and done with and him not having much of a reason to stay in Yongen-Jaya. Ryuji tried to convince the brunet to stay, giving him almost every reason in the book possible. But Akira always gave him the same response. That his “home” wasn’t there; that he had to go back to his family. As much as that left a bitter taste in his mouth, it was the only thing he could tell the blond without giving away that his family would be more than furious if he did not return home.

Ryuji slumped over to lay his upper body on his desk, his laptop casting a dim light on his features against the darkness that covered his room. On the screen, Akira seemed to have mirrored his actions on his bed.

“They still treatin’ you like crap over there?” Ryuji asked with a yawn, referring to the people in his town. It was late but he didn’t care. They had grown into the habit of talking until one of them fell asleep.

Wide awake, Akira nodded. “Nothing new.” He said with a small shrug.

“Tsk.” The other sounded before frowning. “If it was up to me, I would’ve taken you away from there already.”

“Why don’t you then?”

The response was immediate; serious for Akira did not change his composed expression. On the other hand, Ryuji’s eyes had widened and he looked away, not expecting the question. He stared off blankly at his room, unable to make out the finer details of the objects held within. A sigh escaped past his lips.

‘Why don’t I…?’ He thought, repeating the question in his head. ‘Cause that’s too much work.’

“You look tired.” Akira noted, a frown of his own meeting his lips.

The blond blinked before letting out a huff of a laugh, “Heh, yeah. Long day, y’know. Mom and I finally put up our Christmas tree. It’s tiny as hell but man, she’s loves it.” His voice softened, remembering how excited his mother was after they had finished decorating their tree.

“Send me a picture in the morning, I would love to see it.”

“No problem.”

Silence had filled the air between the both of them; their thoughts exploring to various topics and events despite nothing being brought up. Ryuji closed his eyes, thinking back to a way he could bring the brunet back to him -- even if it was for a short amount of time. He opened his eyes, figuring he might as well think about it when he had more rest. Looking to his screen once more, he saw that Akira had fallen asleep. He looked peaceful; every worry he might have had just washed away by slumber. This never failed to warm Ryuji’s heart.

“Goodnight.” He mumbled before shifting around to pick up his laptop and set it on his bed to allow himself to go to sleep as well.

~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~

Days have gone by and Ryuji had been in Operation: Bring Frizzy Hair Back Home mode. He had told the others about his plan but there had been holes stabbed into it by every person he told.

Ann had left to America after their last day to visit family members and Makoto was going to be out of the city until Christmas eve due to her classes at her new university. Haru had been occupied with her father’s business due to the heavy workflow that had accumulated and Yusuke had his own financial problems to worry about as per usual. This left Ryuji with no choice but to go to Futaba and Sojiro; to which they both had setbacks of their own, Futaba unable to offer assistance to his plan and Sojiro being ever so occupied with making sure Leblanc was up and running every day.

Faceplanting one of the table of Leblanc’s booths, Ryuji groaned aloud. Sojiro walked over to his booth and set down two glasses of cold chocolate milk, furrowing his eyebrows at the teen.

“You’re lucky no one’s here or else I would have kicked you out for making a scene.” He scolded before walking back to the counter.

Futaba, who was sitting in front of the blond with her knees to her chest, frowned.

“Still upset you can’t help your boyfriend?” She asked bluntly.

“How am I gonna earn enough money to get him a bus ticket to get here?!” Ryuji exclaimed, not bothering to remove his head from the table.

“Did you try getting a job?” She asked as she reached out to grab one of the glasses.

Finally lifting his head, the teen grabbed his own glass and sighed. “Applied to a few and got nothing back. I dunno how Akira even got like four jobs while he was here when I can’t even land a call back.”

Futaba hummed as her lips rested on the edge of her glass. An idea popped up in her mind and she looked over to the aged-barista behind the counter.

“Oh Soooooojirooooo~?” She called out with a grin,

Sojiro raised an eyebrow at her, “What is it, Futaba?”

The redhead remained silent, her grin saying everything that needed to be said. And Sojiro understood this without a problem.

“Oh no, I’m not going to let another troublemaker work in my cafe.”

“Hey! I ain’t that bad!” Ryuji exclaimed in his defense.

“A loud one at that.” The elder added before turning his attention back to cleaning the counter.

“He only needs to work here for a week. Then you can kick him out after!” Futaba quickly chimed in. “Come on, Sojiro. Don’t you want to see Akira too?”

Sojiro remained silent for a moment, pondering the idea. He closed his eyes and hummed, weighing the pros and cons; though if he had to be honest, there weren’t many cons to begin with. Exhaling deeply, he opened his eyes.

“Fine. One week. Just so you can get enough money to get that kid a bus ticket. But after that, that’s it. Got it?”

“Oh hell yeah! Thanks, Boss! Thanks, Futaba!” The blond grinned. “I’ll do my best!”

“And don’t be so loud! My customers come here, expecting some peace and quiet. You better show up first thing in the morning.”

“Oops, my bad-- You can count on me.”

~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~

The next morning came and Ryuji was running from the train station to Leblanc.

“Shit shit shit.” He mumbled, mentally kicking himself for oversleeping. Caught up in talking to Akira for another night, he forgot to set his alarm. Then again, it probably would have been for the better to avoid the frizzy haired teen from asking why he was awake so early. The deal Ryuji had made with Sojiro remained a secret; a surprise, really.

Opening the front door, the blond doubled over to rest his hands on his knees and catch his breath. “I-I’m here!” He said.

In the cafe, Sojiro and Futaba looked at him. Futaba snickered before diving her spoon back into her curry and Sojiro shook his head.

“Try not to do that when I open up.” He said, grabbing the extra apron from it’s hook. Walking around the counter to hand it over to Ryuji, he added, “You can hang your jacket on the coat rack. Put this on and hurry up so I can start teaching you what you need to know.”

~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~

The week went on and every day was a struggle for Ryuji. Sojiro went through the trouble of teaching him how to make coffee, do a meal prep for the curry, and how to properly serve customers. Every attempt had gotten better but it all continued to prove difficult for the blond. Three days in, Sojiro thought it was better to have him clean around and assist him in the little tasks when needed. Which Ryuji didn’t mind, but it made him feel bad that he was still giving him the tips left behind on top of a small daily wage.

He definitely had to make it up to him once he actually started working.

End of the second day, Ryuji had came home later than the other nights. He stood behind after closing in order to pick up on the skills he had failed to succeed early on. Coffee was still bitter and curry was still missing ingredients, but he was determined.

Flopping face forward on his bed, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and checked his messages. One from Ann, asking how working had been and one from Akira, asking if he was home yet.

Ignoring the message from Ann, he went on to answering Akira’s message.

[Ryuji] Yeah. Just got home.  
[Ryuji] Mom just wouldn’t stop looking around the store.

A lie but he didn’t know how else to cover the truth.

His phone chimed once more.

[Akira] I hope she found something nice. Are you awake enough for tonight?  
[Ryuji] Not tonight, sorry.  
[Akira] Okay. Sleep well.

Seeing the message, he groaned softly. Akira was upset, and he had every reason to be. While Ryuji had been working, he had also been paying less attention to him. Every morning he woke up before Akira did and every night he got home with exhaustion weighing on his bones. Not being able to check his phone much while he was at the cafe, he sent few messages throughout the days.

Ryuji tapped on his name, hitting the call button after.

The dial tone rung twice before he heard a click, signaling that his call was answered.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Hey there.”

“ _Weren’t you tired?_ ”

“Glad to hear from you too.”

On the other side of the call, Ryuji heard Akira laugh. It was soft and gentle. He smiled.

“Just wanted to say goodnight to you properly.” A pause and he continued, “I… Uh… I’m sorry I haven’t really been talkin’ much. Just been busy y’know.”

“ _...I figured; that’s fine. Please make sure you’re taking care of yourself._ ”

“I’m tryin’.” Ryuji responded with his own light hearted laugh. “Hey, I got this pretty awesome Christmas present planned for you. You’re gonna love it.”

“ _You too?_ ”

“Don’t tell me you got me somethin’.”

“ _Not exactly. I’m working on something for you and everyone else._ ”

The blond shook his head. He should have expected that Akira wouldn’t let the holiday pass without finding a way to show his appreciation.

“Better be good then.”

“ _I think it is._ ”

Not knowing what to say, Ryuji stood silent. Thankfully, he didn’t have to respond for the other to chime in again.

“ _You should get your rest. Your mom might drag you out again in the morning. Do tell her I said hello, though._ ”

“Got’cha. I’ll tell her in the morning when she’s kickin’ my ass to wake up.” He grinned, almost wishing that was the situation. “Get some sleep yourself, okay?”

“ _I’ll try._ ”

“...Love you.”

“ _I love you too, Ryuji. Goodnight._ ”

“Night.”

Ending the call, he made sure to turn on his alarm for the next day and tossed his phone aside after. He made himself more comfortable on his bed, not bothering to change out of his clothes. Sleep was quick to take a hold of him for the evening and he willingly accepted this without much of a fight.

~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~

“Thanks! Have a good day!” Ryuji called out as the last customer left. He stepped over to the door and opened it to flip the sign to ‘Closed’ before he walked over to the counter. Pulling back the bar stools next to Futaba, the blond sat down and rested his elbows on the counter.

“So how much is there? Did I make the goal?!” He asked as he watched Sojiro count loose Yen from a jar that was set aside specifically for Ryuji.

Counting the last Yen, Sojiro frowned and scratched his head. “You’re a couple of Yen short, kid.”

“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me…”

“You can let Ryuji work another day, right Sojiro?” Futaba asked. “Yeah, he sucked at everything, but at least he was trying!”

“Is that supposed to help?!” Ryuji exclaimed with full offense. Shoulders slouching, he sighed. “It’s no use. I wanted to put this in my bank tonight and send it to him in the mornin’ through PayFriend so he could buy the ticket. Can’t do that if I’m short, though.”

“Look, I can probably lend you the rest--”

Ryuji was quick to interrupt. “I can’t do that. Makes me feel all kinds of bad, y’know. You’ve already done enough for me, Boss. Thanks.”

“Well maybe…” Futaba began, her voice trailing off as the bell to the front door chimed, signaling someone’s entrance.

“We’re closed.” Sojiro said before looking towards the front door.

Futaba gasped when she followed his gaze.

Still sulking, Ryuji’s attention was more focused on the napkin in front of him. The person who had walked in stepped over to the bar stool on his side and sat down, placing his bag on the floor next to him.

“Hey, didn’t you hear? We’re closed, man.” Ryuji said before turning to look at the person himself.

Looking back at him with a smile was Akira.

“I just thought I could stop by for a quick cup of coffee before finding a hotel to stay in for the night.” He said, amused at his friends’ expressions.

“You could have at least let me know when you got into town.” Sojiro said.

“You knew?!” Ryuji asked, almost glaring at his senior.

Sojiro remained silent and gathered the counted Yen to put it inside of an envelope.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” He asked as he turned towards Akira.

“The same way you didn’t tell me you’ve been working here for the past week. It was a surprise.” The smile remained present on his face.

“Surprise my ass! Don’t hold out on tellin’ me somethin’ like this!”

The blond slid off his seat and embraced the brunet, having it been returned immediately after.

“I don’t want to interrupt this heartwarming reunion, but you’re still on the clock, kid. Get to cleaning the booths.” Sojiro said, handing Ryuji the envelope as he pulled away from Akira.

“I can’t accept this now.” He said, gulping as he looked down at the envelope. If he had known this was planned, he wouldn’t have even bothered to get in the way of money that was being earned for the establishment.

“Nonsense. You earned it. Now finish up so we all can eat. I should have enough leftover curry from today.”

“I’ve been looking forward to your curry all week.” Akira chimed in, sliding off the barstool.

The brunet picked up his duffle bag from the floor and began heading towards the staircase, only to be stopped by Ryuji grabbing him by the arm.

“You owe me an explanation.” He said with a serious expression yet a light tone.

“If you’ll spend the night, I’ll explain.” Akira responded, a smirk playing on his lips before he slipped from his hold to go up the stairs.

Ryuji blinked before taking out his phone to leave his mother a message and get to work on those booths.

Now he was curious.


End file.
